veiled always sleeping

[subiithecham]

I have a four month old male veiled chameleon named subii. I have noticed lately that he is always sleeping or has his eyes closed. There is no discharge or any visible problem with his eyes. He socializes with me regularly and his behavior is normal otherwise, he is eating normally and does not show any signs of stress. His diet consists of crickets gutloaded with flukers orange cube as well as calcium supplement, the occasional wax worm (for hand feeding) as well as fruits for a treat. His temperatures range from 80 degrees at night to 94 during the day (80 in his low spot). I also mist him several times a day and keep his humidity at a consistent level. I am just wondering if it is normal for him to sleep/close his eyes so much?

 

[Carlton]

I have a four month old male veiled chameleon named subii. I have noticed lately that he is always sleeping or has his eyes closed. There is no discharge or any visible problem with his eyes. He socializes with me regularly and his behavior is normal otherwise, he is eating normally and does not show any signs of stress. His diet consists of crickets gutloaded with flukers orange cube as well as calcium supplement, the occasional wax worm (for hand feeding) as well as fruits for a treat. His temperatures range from 80 degrees at night to 94 during the day (80 in his low spot). I also mist him several times a day and keep his humidity at a consistent level. I am just wondering if it is normal for him to sleep/close his eyes so much?

There is definitely something wrong. This is not "normal" behavior, so when you said his behavior is "normal otherwise" its a little confusing. If there is no discharge from his eyes there's no infection per se. Could you give us a more detailed description of your husbandry? We need the specifics...exactly what the cage setup is like, what brands of lighting you are using, the age of the UV light and the brand, how often you dust with plain calcium, the calcium WITH vit. D3, and the multivitamins, and the humidity level and how you measure it. The details will help us pinpoint the problem.

BTW, the gutload you are using (cricket cubes) is pretty minimal to poor. There are much better options available from some of the forum sponsors.

 

[subiithecham]

His terrarium at the moment is 18x18x24.the top and one side are a screen. I am getting a bigger one built at the moment for when he gets bigger. His daylight bulb is a 150w eco terra brand, the UVB is zoo med,and his night heat bulb is 100w national geographic. All bulbs are 3 months. His crickets are dusted with calcium everyday. (d3 and multivitamins once a month cause that's what the lady at pet smart told me). His humidity is kept at 50-55% and I use a analog hydrometer.

And thanks for the info about the cricket cubes! I'll make sure to change that!

 

[Carlton]

His terrarium at the moment is 18x18x24.the top and one side are a screen. I am getting a bigger one built at the moment for when he gets bigger. His daylight bulb is a 150w eco terra brand, the UVB is zoo med,and his night heat bulb is 100w national geographic. All bulbs are 3 months. His crickets are dusted with calcium everyday. (d3 and multivitamins once a month cause that's what the lady at pet smart told me). His humidity is kept at 50-55% and I use a analog hydrometer.

And thanks for the info about the cricket cubes! I'll make sure to change that!

So you use a heat bulb at night? Unless your room gets colder than 50 F you don't need ANY heat at night. Chams see full color, so visible light on the cage at night will keep him from sleeping well. They need a temperature drop of at least 10 degrees so their metabolism can slow enough to rest. This may be a big reason he's sleeping during the day...he's tired.

You have a lot of watts of heat on him during the day. This will really dry the cage out. Do you see him rubbing his eyes and trying to "clean" them a lot? They might be irritated from the dry conditions. I also suspect your analog hygrometer may not be very accurate. I'd test it against another one.

 

[subiithecham]

He doesn't usually rub them at all and they aren't sunken either. I gave him a good misting in hopes to flush them out at all. I also went out and bought a smaller bulb and I will turn all his lights off tonight! Thanks so much for all your help!